Oh, the places you'll go...

I’m trying something this year. It’s not exactly new but in a way it is. I started blogging when I was first married. I had moved away from all my family and friends and had a husband working his way through seminary which left him with not much free time. Which meant I had loads of it. Time, that is. Twenty years and five kids later I realize what a gift that was, but I was too naïve to really appreciate it. I blogged faithfully throughout the birth and toddlerhood of all my children, the loss of three babies in the womb and the deaths of both my parents. I lived a lot of life on that page. It was cathartic for a lot of things. But then as my kids and life grew, I stepped away. Not intentionally or immediately. I just gradually faded. And I’m totally good with that. But over the past few years I’ve felt a push, kind of a nagging or gnawing to begin again. Not blogging necessarily but something. Motherhood and wifehood (is that even a word?) are beautiful and hard and demanding and...

We are on week two of Shelftember. Last week doesn't count because we were on vacation and there was no shelf to tember from at the beach. Not gonna lie, I'm pretty proud of today's scrounge menu.  Breakfast: oatmeal, protein shakes Lunch: leftover pimento cheese and firecrackers from a potluck, apple slices, boiled peanuts and sandwich meat Supper: White Trash Hamburger Helper. This is actually a recipe I made years ago before we ever had kids. I was a new wife and still learning to cook when I discovered Kraft Food & Family Magazine. I don't know if they still make it or not but it was a free magazine that came once a month and was filled with really simple recipes whose ingredient list included just about every product Kraft makes. At one point I think I had something like 12 bottles of salad dressing in our tiny little seminary refrigerator.  Anyway, this recipe was originally called Taco Mac & Cheese Skillet or something, but I renamed it something a little...

"I was in the middle of the word 'September'."- Nicole Leahy Danes, Gilmore Girls   September is upon us once again. And while that fact may or may not mean anything significant for you, here's what it brings to my house.  1. Vacation. My husband and I both work seven days a week during the summer and have time for hardly anything else. Our favorite time to get away is after Labor Day when the temperature is a tad milder and vacation rentals are a tad cheaper.  2. This year I'm celebrating the coming of fall by rewatching Gilmore Girls . It's still one of my favorite shows but it hits a little different as I get older. I won't get into all that now but suffice it to say Lorelai should have been kinder and certainly more respectful of her parents.  3. Shelftember is here! A few years ago when grocery prices really started to go up I prayed about how to stretch our dollars especially as a family of seven with three growing middle school boys. One answer ...

Forties came so soon Not sure where the time all went Gray hairs keep the score Age before beauty Older, but not wiser yet Is there more out there? Kids are so big now There's a teen in my house, how? Time sure is a thief Go to bed, get up Cook, clean, always teaching school Sports, dance, piano Something more to do Is it really enough? Question everything A mother and wife But once a person too, right? Brain turning to mush Gardening, canning, Sourdough, bargain shopper Writing...not so much So now, where to start? Maybe some random haiku Let's see where this goes

 I made a new friend recently. We met at the local Crossfit gym. Before long he was telling me details of his story, how he took the scenic route to faith in Jesus Christ. His journey was similar to mine in many ways. There was much alcohol, immorality and seeking for purpose and truth in all the wrong places. I am reminded of C.S. Lewis’ observation in Mere Christianity: “Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exist. A baby feels hunger; well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim; well, there is such a thing as water…If I find in myself a desire in which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” I concur with Lewis. There are few experiences this planet offers I have yet to partake. I have visited big cities and little villages on multiple continents. I’ve snorkeled with manta rays and sharks in Belize and ridden an elephant through the jungles of Thailand. I w...

Things I understand now as an adult: Why Mama Bear's porridge was cold. Why children should be seen and not heard. Why the little old woman who lived in a shoe spanked her kids soundly and put them to bed.